Cervelli, Back Behind Plate for Yankees, Is Doing His Best to Stay There

The Yankees' Francisco Cervelli said he used his time in the minors to refine his mechanics and rebuild his confidence.Credit
Steve Nesius/Reuters

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Francisco Cervelli was crushed last season when the Yankees sent him down to catch for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. After spending most of the previous three seasons in the Bronx, he figured his roster spot was secure. He was wrong.

“The first two months were bad,” Cervelli said. “When your mind is not there, it’s hard to put things together.”

The weather in Pennsylvania was “horrible,” he said. He was constantly shuttling between outposts like Rochester and Toledo. It was nothing remotely close to the big-league experience to which he had become accustomed, and yet it might have been the best thing that could have happened to him.

“It made my mind stronger,” he said.

Cervelli arrived at Yankees camp determined to win the starting catcher’s job, a vacancy created by the off-season departure of Russell Martin to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is the team’s most hotly contested position battle.

On Saturday, Manager Joe Girardi brought five catchers to the team’s spring-training opener here against the Atlanta Braves. It was a victory of the most insignificant order that Cervelli got the start. It was much more important that he play well, and Cervelli delivered in the Yankees’ 8-3 victory — a small step forward for a player who seemed firmly entrenched in baseball purgatory not so long ago.

Cervelli’s most notable play came in the second inning, when he threw out the Braves’ Todd Cunningham trying to steal second base. Cervelli, who was once known as a defense-first catcher before his skills regressed in recent seasons, said it felt “amazing.”

“I haven’t stopped working since they sent me to AAA,” said Cervelli, 26, who played winter ball in Venezuela. “I think the past few years, I had bad habits and maybe some frustration. When you don’t play every day, you want to do things perfect. And I was a little young, too.”

Cervelli, who had a walk in three plate appearances, played five innings before he was replaced by Austin Romine, one of three top contenders for the job. The other, Chris Stewart, did not make the trip. Romine hit a two-run single, and second baseman Robinson Cano — coming off a dreadful postseason slump — hammered a fifth-inning home run, which felt like a statement.

The Yankees also got a lift from Zoilo Almonte, a 23-year-old right fielder who spent last season at Class AA Trenton. He hit a two-run homer and flashed some defensive skills, throwing out a runner at third base in the first inning. The play extinguished what was setting up to be a tricky spot for David Phelps, the Yankees’ right-handed starter.

“How about that defense?” said Phelps, who gave up three hits in two innings. “Wow, I’ll take it.”

Defense has fast become a buzzword for the Yankees, who lost a good portion of their power at the plate in the off-season. General Manager Brian Cashman said he did not expect the Yankees to produce as many runs as they did last season. As a result, the emphasis is on preventing other teams from scoring. Girardi said he made that clear to the catchers in a meeting last week.

“Defense is No. 1 here,” he said.

Cervelli said he used his time in the minors to refine his mechanics and rebuild his confidence, though he acknowledged that it did not return overnight. When he was initially having trouble coping with the demotion, he received an unexpected visit from his parents, Manuel and Damelis, who live in Venezuela.

Cervelli’s family spent three weeks together on the International League circuit, with his parents trailing the team bus to road games in a car. They rooted for Cervelli from the bleachers and told him to stop feeling sorry for himself. “Be a man,” Cervelli recalled them saying.

“Sometimes you go to sleep and you think about all the bad things,” he added. “And then my mom and my dad said: ‘Hey, nothing is easy, and in the future you’re going to appreciate this. And when you have what you want, you’re not going to let anyone take your job.’ ”

A version of this article appears in print on February 24, 2013, on page SP8 of the New York edition with the headline: Cervelli, Back Behind Plate for Yankees, Is Doing His Best to Stay There. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe